Norfolk - Easter 2024

The section had not organised a cycle touring trip since the aborted 2020 Dieppe event. Therefore, in the autumn of 2023 an easy trip in the sunny days of spring 2024 sounded like an attractive idea.

The flattest place I ever cycled was around the Denver Sluice in Norfolk and I hadn’t visited Norwich for 50 years, so a tour around Norfolk based in Norwich sounded like it met the "easy" brief. Amazingly I also managed to persuade four other members of the section that this sounded like a good idea.

Thus we found ourselves on East Croydon station on an overcast Friday morning in April waiting for a train to Cambridge. The platform staff had warned us that the trains could be full of people and luggage travelling up from Gatwick so it might be better to put all the bikes in one carriage at the back of the train. This was certainly true of the first few trains that we saw, however the Cambridge train was empty and we had an easy two hour ride up to Cambridge station.

We set off at midday, following the 10km cycle route out of town toward Bottisham but without using the shared footway/cycleway sections. As we headed north past the airport we began to feel the strong winds from the North East and we would continue to feel them for the remaining 110km of our journey. As we entered Bottisham I heard a clicking noise that turned out to be a flint poking through my back tyre and inner tube, oops!

Twenty minutes later we set off for Fordham via the town of Reach/Reche a historic Fen port. We proceeded along the lanes to Isleham then around Mildenhall, through Wilde Street and on to Lakenheath where we had a break on a park bench to eat sandwiches.

North of Lakenheath we turned onto a byway called Chalk Road which took us to Brandon. This was a mistake as there wasn't much chalk but lots of mud, flint and large puddles. Ideal for a gravel ride but not so good for progress carrying luggage.

After Brandon we headed into Thetford Forest towards Wretham, here there was an unmade sandy road but nothing like Chalk Road.

We followed more lanes through farmland past Lower Stow Bedon, Great Ellingham and out onto the main road at Wymondham.

Here we joined a cycle route that ran 16km to our hotel in central Norwich. Although a lot of this route was shared footway/cycleway it was wide, clean and easy to use. It included dedicated crossings of the A11, A47 and some segregated paths around busy junctions. The cycle route took us around Norwich Castle and to the reception of our hotel where we managed to check-in and book dinner and breakfast. It was a hard day but with plenty of scenery.

On Saturday morning after a great breakfast we set off to do a loop out to the coast and around the broads. There was still a strong NE wind but we were heading mostly east. At Panxworth we stopped to walk around at the ruins of All Saints Church before going on to St Lawrence's church in South Walsham. Just around the corner we stopped at the Fairhaven Woodland and Water Garden cafe for elevenses.

Ruins of All Saints Church.

After coffee we headed around Acle and through Ormesby St Margaret to Winterton-on-Sea, here we cycled through the dunes to look at where the road and buildings are falling onto the beach.

Winterton Beach.

We stopped for lunch at Poppys Cafe in Winterton-on-Sea and then headed towards Horsey Windpump. Unfortunately, the windmill was closed because of the high wind and the danger of bits falling from it.

Horsey Windpump.

Heading back, we passed over Potter Heigham bridge, Ludham Bridge and through Horning.

At Hoveton we turned south through Salhouse and along Plumstead Road towards our hotel and dinner.

On Sunday morning we set off for Cromer using the cycle route north out of Norwich and stuck to B-roads until we connected with the cycle route at Sustead. We made a diversion at Erpingham that took us to the Artisan Cafe in a craft centre on the A140. This was a great spot for elevenses as it had a walled garden with some respite from the wind.

Artisan Cafe.

Cromer Pier

Hotel De France Cromer.

At Cromer Pier the original plan to ride down the coast to Happisburgh was abandoned because of the wind. Instead we headed south through Northrepps and Southrepps, this was an enjoyable ride through quiet lanes and fields. We couldn't find a local cafe in North Walsham for afternoon tea so headed back to the Hotel in Norwich for a walk and some re-hydration.

Southrepps.

After another fine breakfast on Monday morning the restaurant supervisor warned us not to get sunburnt out on our bikes. Having packed our bags, we set of from the hotel under blue skies with the temperature around 11C retracing our route along the cycleway towards Wymondham. The roads were a little busier than on Friday afternoon but we made our way through some great landscape looking at a variety of giant farming machines.

As we approached Thetford Forest the sky clouded over, the temperature dropped and it began to drizzle. The US Air Force also began practice which was interesting for us visitors but meant the town of Brandon got crossed of my list of locations to live.

To avoid repeating the trauma of the Chalk Road we headed north out of Brandon to follow a cycle route from Weeting to Hockwold-cum-Wilton across Weeting Heath National Nature Reserve. Although weather wasn't great, the road was quiet and the surface was much better to ride than the alternative pock marked byway. We headed south toward Lakenheath and re-joined the route back towards Cambridge, riding with the wind at our back was much less tiring than our journey north on Friday afternoon.

As we approached the suburbs of Cambridge we took to the shared footways/cycleways to avoid the rush hour traffic. We arrived at Cambridge station just before 1700hr having done a couple of extra miles but feeling a lot fresher than the trip north on Friday. There was a 20 minute wait for a Thameslink train but the trip to Croydon was quick and we were saying our farewells outside East Croydon station by 1900hr.

Overall we had a good trip with interesting visits and good scenery. There are still plenty of other things to see around Norwich and other routes to explore across the broads. There is also reasonable amount of good cycling infrastructure.

Over the weekend we rode a total of 423km with only 2378m of climbing so it was an easy ride especially on the days we were carrying luggage.